


wide awake and we're dreaming

by domeric_bolton



Series: apartmentgate [3]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Work Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2741855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/domeric_bolton/pseuds/domeric_bolton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>billy told me that the plural form of penis was "penes,"</i> writes Tommy, <i>and hes dating a shapeshifter so i think he would know better than u.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	wide awake and we're dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> you know the drill, this was completely unbetaed, let me know if there's any glaring mistakes
> 
> title is from "young hearts" by strange talk

Despite being revered as superheroes, magic twins, aliens, half-aliens, and gods, the Young Avengers don't have a lot of money between them. Essentially, this group of heroes are the stereotypical broke college kids, but who don't go to college and instead defend the earth from intergalactic parasites. (They fight other sorts of creatures, sure, but the whole Mother ordeal is what made the Young Avengers famous. It's what Billy puts on the business cards.)

Their lack of funds boil down to this: they can only afford two tiny, cramped rooms for four people each.

When the apartment was bought, it had been quite clear that Billy and Teddy were more than comfortable with rooming together. This stemmed from not only their annoyingly perfect relationship, but also several years Teddy spent in Billy's parents' house. America and Kate, the only female Young Avengers since Cassie Lang's tragic death (the death that gives Kate nightmares, the nightmares that no one, especially Loki, is allowed to tease her about), decided to room with one as well. This was explained to the others as simply because they were the same gender, which was of course a lie, as the romantic tension between Miss America and Hawkeye was too strong to be concealed. So this was the first room: Billy and Teddy in one queen-sized bed, America and Kate in the other.

As soon as the first room filled up, Tommy had suggested that the leftovers- himself, David, Noh-Varr, and Loki- could get along just fine in the same room. This was not, in fact, the case. Noh-varr and Loki were still suffering from different break-ups (Loki slightly more than Noh-Varr, who had a job and several ex girlfriends to keep him busy), which meant that neither of them felt especially like socializing. One would think that being mutually pathetic and self-pitying would lead to common ground, but Tommy discovered this wasn't so.

The idea of pairing the leftovers also involved David's participation and willingness to sleep in the same room, which he begrudgingly agreed to.

Baiting. Leading the witness. Being a cowardly little shit. There are plenty of terms to describe what Tommy does to David to get the poor guy to realize that Tommy's got a bit of a crush on him.

Except David is either really, really dumb, or so completely disinterested in Tommy that his disinterest is manifesting itself in ignorance. And David's the Prodigy, so it can't be the first option. Because Tommy is being pretty obvious.

When David is hungry, Tommy makes instant ramen with Sriracha sauce, a recipe he stole from his brother, and pats him on the head like Billy does to Teddy. Except Tommy does it with more condescension.

When David says he's cold, Tommy offers to keep him warm. And it's December, so David whines about the cold a lot. But he just freezes up when Tommy offers and says nothing.

When David starts rambling about the sky in the morning or how Chicago is different from New York or how the mutants he used to work with were entirely different from the Young Avengers, Tommy stops running circles around him and leans his head on David's shoulder. And then David stiffens up and jostles his shoulder until Tommy's head falls off.

What the fuck more does Tommy have to do?

Tommy doesn't believe in false modesty; he knows he's moderately attractive and he knows he's good at talking to girls (why should guys be any different?). David doesn't seem to fall for Tommy's charm or his looks. And it isn't as though Tommy has never experienced rejection from someone, but it's still somehow different. He and David have a capital-c Connection. Like Billy and Teddy, except less blatantly gay.

At work in their little cubicles, Tommy and David pass notes to each other like kindergarteners. _I swear to God that I'm going to walk home if this woman keeps calling and thinking that I'm the PR department,_ says David's note. He's doodled a small angry face on the sheet of paper. The angry face is wearing David's yellow glasses.

Tommy draws a sympathetic frowny face and an equally sympathetic dick on the paper, and hurls the note over the partition separating their cubicles. It's nice to do office work, despite the omnipresent restlessness in his legs from sitting down so long, because he's got his own little space carved out for him. He likes putting pictures on the walls, which he can't do at home because Noh-varr's plastered the walls with posters of his dumb bands.

The biggest picture on his cubicle wall is of him, Billy, their mother, and their grandfather. Uncle Pietro is only slightly visible in the background, a white blur. Eli had taken it, which gives the photograph a slightly bitter air, but it's still a good picture. Everyone's smiling except for Magneto (because Tommy still has a few hang ups about calling the guy Grandpa Erik or something).

_If you keep drawing penises on these notes, I will report you,_ threatens David's next note. 

_billy told me that the plural form was "penes,"_ writes Tommy, _and hes dating a shapeshifter so i think he would know better than u._

The next is a Instagram picture of all the Young Avengers, taken by Loki back in 2013 when Tommy had just come back to consciousness at New Year's. It's the dumbest picture he's ever seen, but he loves it- Noh-varr's arm around Kate, David giving Teddy bunny ears, Billy just barely squeezing into the frame. He's got a million printed-out snapchats that everyone's sent him because it makes him laugh. There's even a selfie Uncle Pietro took while running. That one's his favorite.

_Ew, I do not want to think about your brother and Teddy having weird alien sex. I already hear enough alien sex stories from Noh-varr._

_he makes up like half of those stories_

_They're still disgusting. Has he regaled you with the excellent tale of blowing a guy while upside down in zero gravity on that Kree exploratory ship?_

_that is DEFINITELY made up. you cant suck dick in zero g_

The last pictures are individual shots that various Young Avengers have taken. Some are of each other: Teddy flying circles around the apartment building, America kicking through a brick wall, Kate polishing her new bow, and some are of the various places they've visited: portraits of stars and galaxies, snapshots of alien planets. Tommy is wildly proud of his picture collection.

_Like you'd know, straight boy._ There's a little B) emoji at the end of that sentence, because David thinks that the smiling sunglasses guy looks like himself.

Tommy is about to write something back (he doesn't know what, because David's response in uncharacteristically provocative) when Jana from IT stops by.

"I heard you had trouble with your- oh my god, is that a love letter?"

Tommy's gone out with Jana from IT once. They both instantly regretted it. Jana still likes to drop by to pretend to fix Tommy's computer, which is always unnecessary and embarrassing. Tommy had thought that America was teasing him about clingy exes. (In his defense, Tommy had never met "The Ultimate Nullifier.")

Jana reaches for the note, and Tommy instinctively pulls back. He doesn't think Jana will appreciate the delicate humor surrounding penes and zero-g blowjobs. "Yeah," he replies without thinking. "I'm, uh, writing a love letter."

He hears someone laugh from behind him and hopes to God that it wasn't David.

"Reeeeally." Jana's brows furrow. "I thought you said that you and that Hawkgirl weren't dating anymore?"

"It's just Hawkeye, actually," comes David's voice from behind them. "She and the male Hawkeye share the name. Like Captain America, or Thor and that other girl."

"Oh, I love that other girl," Jana says emphatically. "What's her name again?"

Tommy takes this opportunity as means to escape, ducking under Jana's outstretched arm and sprinting to the parking lot in under three seconds. He has to move slowly to avoid blowing anything up.

Somehow working in a cubicle is more stressful than working on his feet. Tommy stares up at the building and shakes his head.

His phone suddenly buzzes, startling him slightly. When Tommy pulls it out of his pocket, the phone screen reads that he's got a new text from David: _What's this about a love letter?_

Tommy grins.

_u didn't c it? i wrote about penes and how im never going to be able to blow you in zero g no matter how many times you ask_

The reply comes back immediately.

_You're as disgusting as Noh-varr. I'm fine with regular blowjobs_

_Was that too forwards?_

Tommy resists the urge to do something dumb, like punching the sky out of victory. He laughs instead.

_r u seriously asking ME if UR too forwards_

_i'll c u at home B)_

David texts back. It's the smiling sunglasses guy emoji.


End file.
